Sniper victim soldiers on

KINGSTON – When a sniper’s bullet ripped through then Warrant Officer Tom Martineau’s body while he was serving in Bosnia in 1994, he knew his life would never be the same.

It was Oct. 3 at 9:33 p.m. in Ilijas, Bosnia, when Martineau was shot during a risky mission. A 34-year-old armoured warrant officer at the time, Martineau was on his way to check on the welfare of his troops, who were coming under attack. While in position in their observation post, Martineau, a competitive biathlete and participant of 16 sports a year, was shot.

"In a millisecond it all went away," Martineau said. "But you still have the residue inside no matter the body you have to pursue that competitiveness, rehabilitation, physical fitness. That’s all still there, but you’ve got a different body, that’s where Soldier On comes in."

Starting on Saturday at 9 a.m. a 24-hour curling bonspiel challenge called Soldier On Rocks started at Garrison Golf and Curling Club. The tournament, in its first year, included 102 participants and raised more than $8,000 for Soldier On. In addition to raising awareness of the injuries suffered by Canadian Forces members, Soldier On provides opportunities for ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members to heal and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle, ultimately reintegrating into society through the use of sports. Martineau is one of those members.

The sniper’s bullet went through his spine, left kidney, left lung and his spleen, which he would then lose.

"It took seven years in a wheelchair, apparatuses and I was in complete paraplegia," Martineau said while standing and preparing to play in the bonspiel. "It took seven years to walk again. Now I’m skipping two curling teams and I golf. There is life after injury. There is life after military, there is life after any tragic life event where you can still carry on."

Not only did the shot injure Martineau physically, it tore him apart psychologically.

"I attempted suicide twice. I didn’t know how to run away from my own mind. I couldn’t unhook my head and put it on the night-table, go to sleep, and put my head back on," Martineau said. "I became a hardcore alcoholic, hardcore drug addict, and those are co-morbidity skills which aren’t healthy, but it’s how somebody deals with this — especially from the culture of the military: there’s a way to do things, you’ve got to do it right, ethically, morally, value-wise, leadership-wise, you’ve got to do things the right way.

"When all of that is ripped away from you, you’re basically left on your own to deal with it. No disrespect to the Canadian Armed Forces or the military, but at the time we weren’t good at taking care of our ill and injured back in 1994. Today it is much better."

With the right support Martineau is now a regional co-ordinator with Operational Stress Injury Social Support services and says he loves it. With the help of Soldier On, he’ll also be participating in the Toronto Invictus Games to compete in golf and wheelchair basketball.

"The goal [of Soldier On] is quality of life," Martineau said. "We’ve had soldiers who have lost limbs, suffered psychological injuries — post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression — but the idea here at the bonspiel is to generate funds for a program that provides additional events and activities to improve quality of life."

Martineau said it was moving to see so many participants, from all walks of life, come out to the event.

"That’s what soldiers are. They come from all walks of lives, they’re from Newfoundland, they’re from Victoria, they’re from Saskatchewan, they’re from B.C. Nobody picks and chooses who’s going to lose their legs. Nobody picks and chooses who gets PTSD," Martineau said. "But when that does happen, here’s people from all walks of life supporting … this is just another really good example of how we respect our military and unfortunately those who suffer from their duties and responsibilities while serving their country."